अकस्माद् धर्मपुत्रस्य धर्मात्मेति यशो गतम् ॥
को हि धर्मच्युते पूजाम् एवं युक्तां प्रयोजयेत् ॥
यो ऽयं वृष्णिकुले जातो राजानं हतवान् पुरा ॥
अद्य धर्मात्मता चैव व्यपकृष्टा युधिष्ठिरात् ॥
कृपणत्वं निविष्टं च कृष्णे ऽर्घ्यस्य निवेदनात् ॥
यदि भीताश् च कौन्तेयाः कृपणाश् च तपस्विनः ॥
ननु त्वयापि बोद्धव्यं यां पूजां माधवो ऽर्हति ॥
akasmād dharmaputrasya dharmātmeti yaśo gatam ||
ko hi dharmacyute pūjām evaṃ yuktāṃ prayojayet ||
yo 'yaṃ vṛṣṇikule jāto rājānaṃ hatavān purā ||
adya dharmātmatā caiva vyapakṛṣṭā yudhiṣṭhirāt ||
kṛpaṇatvaṃ niviṣṭaṃ ca kṛṣṇe 'rghyasya nivedanāt ||
yadi bhītāś ca kaunteyāḥ kṛpaṇāś ca tapasvinaḥ ||
nanu tvayāpi boddhavyaṃ yāṃ pūjāṃ mādhavo 'rhati ||
"Without cause, the fame of 'righteous one' has departed from the son of Dharma; for who would render such [significant] honor to one fallen from dharma? Now righteousness has been withdrawn from Yudhishthira, and wretchedness has taken root — from the offering of arghya to Krishna. And if the sons of Kunti are afraid, wretched and pitiable, then was it not for you [Bhishma] to have understood what honor Madhava deserves?"
d96209b8349a · published Jul 16, 2026, 3:40:27 PM UTC
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Having reached the limit, the reviler declares the honoring of Krishna a fall from dharma and a loss of righteousness. It is telling that his judgment is the exact reverse of the truth: what is "wretchedness" for Shishupala is, for one who knows, the crown of piety, for there is no higher dharma than to honor the Lord before all others. The verse teaches that a perverted heart sees the world inside out: it calls good evil, and the sacred a disgrace. And the measure of this perversion is one's attitude toward God: whoever calls worship of Him a fall has himself fallen lower than anything; his verdict on the sacred is a verdict on himself.